By: Ellen Cans
While NYC struggles to get eligible candidates the COIVID-19 vaccination, and scores of frontline workers and seniors toil fruitlessly to find appointments, a 52-year-old SoulCycle instructor-to-the-stars showed off that she got her coronavirus vaccine in New York City.
On Friday, Stacey Griffith, whose clients have included celebrities such as Madonna, Brooke Shields, and Kelly Ripa, took to Instagram to share her first dose success in Staten Island that day. “VACCINE DAY! Step one of the Moderna magic!! One hour drive to STATEN ISLAND worth every minute!” Griffith wrote, on Instagram, in a post she later deleted.
As reported by the NY Post, the share did not go as she intended and garnered angry comments from some of her 64,000 followers, who said they did not receive a dose of the potentially life saving vaccination. “My wife is a stage 4 cancer patient”, wrote heartbroken Gabrielle Novacek, of Chicago. “She is at least 2-3 months out from being eligible for a vaccine. As the caretaker she depends on to provide her with support, I’m at least 4-5 months out”.
In response to the countless scathing messages, Griffith defended herself speaking to The Daily Beast on Friday. Griffith maintained that her job qualified her as an “educator”. “In my profession of health and wellness as a teacher, it’s my priority daily to keep my community and their respiratory systems operating at full capacity so they can beat this virus if they are infected by it,” said Griffith. “I can only teach to them if I am healthy myself.” She added that she “had the same opportunity everyone else has by going online and filling out a questionnaire,” and said she didn’t call in any “favors” to get the shot. “My post today was to show my confidence in the system, in our government, and I hope everyone can at least feel more at ease knowing I went through the process!”
The controversy continued, however, with Mayor Bill de Blasio weighing in. “Doesn’t sound like someone who should’ve gotten vaccinated to me,” said de Blasio. “I don’t think someone who shows up and says, ‘Hey, I’m a SoulCycle instructor should have qualified unless there’s some other factor there,” said de Blasio. “That should have been caught in the application process.”
“Every person must attest to their eligibility on the application,” added Dr. Dave Chokshi, commissioner of the city’s Department of Health, who said anyone who doesn’t meet the requirements should be turned away onsite.
